UnFree
by 383BooksFictionally
Summary: Adventures of Anya Episode 0: The prologue to the coming soon series Adventures of Anya! Basically a novelization of the Arena, Knights of the Nine, and Main questlines with a quirky main character who will eventually grow on you (probably).


**_Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to anything included in this story other than my original characters and dialogue. Especially not that video this link goes to._**

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 _I was born eighty-seven years ago. For sixty-five years, I've ruled as Tamriel's Emperor, but, for all these years, I've never been the ruler of my own dreams. I have seen the Gates of Oblivion, beyond which no waking eye may see. Behold! In darkness, a doom sweeps the land._

 _This is the twenty-seventh of Last Seed, the year of Akatosh, 433. These are the closing days of the Third Era, and the final hours of my life._

The ground beneath me was cold when I opened my eyes. The only thing I could see from where I lay on the ground was the rocky ceiling and the light streaming from a single window too high for me to look out. Though the light was that of a gentle morning, it was enough to make my head pound, and I turned away from the window with a grunt. I could feel the straw strewn across the floor tangle in my hair, but I didn't care. They were the same color anyway.

I took a moment to adjust to the room I found myself in. The walls and floor were made of stones, and metal chains hung from the ceiling in a corner to my right. To my left was a chair and a table with a jug on it. The door was a simple one; a cell door made of rusting metal bars that looked as though it wasn't made to open. Through those bars, I could see a Dunmer's red eyes taunting me, and as soon as our gazes met, he spoke.

"Oh, look. An Imperial in the Imperial prison. I guess they don't play favorites, huh?" His voice was smooth yet cold, almost like a verbal poison. "Your own kinsmen think you're a piece of human trash. How sad. I bet the guards give you 'special' treatment before the end. Oh, that's right. You're going to die in here, Imperial! You're going to die! Imperial criminal scum like you give the Empire a bad name, you see. You're an embarrassment. Best if you just... disappeared."

His speech sounded so horribly pre-rehearsed, I would have almost felt bad interrupting him, so I let him say what he wanted. I was hoping for some tragic tale on how he lost his wife and ended up in prison, but it was just hopeless taunting. I sharpened my glare, but I've never been called "ferocious" in my life. The Dunmer laughed at my sad attempt at being intimidating and continued his speech.

"You're such a cute little thing, aren't you? I'd guess you were raised in the Temple District, no no, in one of those big houses in Talos Plaza. You've never even seen a prison before, have you?" I gritted my teeth, trying to keep quiet. He was right. I had never set foot outside the Imperial City in my life, and even then I had never been to the prison or the Waterfront. But it wasn't my fault I was sheltered! I had always wanted to leave the Imperial City. My dream was to uncover the secrets of the various secret societies in Tamriel. The Morag Tong, the Dark Brotherhood, even the newborn Mythic Dawn! Each had their secrets and their dark allure, but there was no way a sheltered princess could find them on her own. As soon I was independent, as soon as I was eighteen, I was going to travel the world. I would no longer be the sheltered little daughter of a wealthy noble. Right now I was sheltered, but I wasn't going to let this Dunmer know-it-all taunt me about something he didn't understand.

"You little wretch!" Good start, Arya. "If you dare confront me with that miniscule knowledge of yours again, I'll rip off your extremities and feed them to the slaughterfish!" A look of confusion crossed his eyes. Then, he burst out laughing.

"If that wasn't the talk of a privileged baby, I don't know what is!" He could barely throw his taunt with all the laughing he was doing. An embarrassed blush crossed my face. Great job Arya. Give him more ammunition. That's exactly what you needed. When the laughter finally died down, a sly smirk crossed the Dunmer's face.

"I know exactly who you are, princess." I shot him an angry look at the 'princess', but he ignored me and continued. "I heard about you from the guards. You're that little girl who killed her own parents." A cold jolt shot through me at his words, but for some reason, I couldn't tear my eyes from his. I tried to protest weakly, but words wouldn't come out. "Oh yes, I heard all about that little incident." He stood from where he had been sitting before and paced his cell, gesturing dramatically. "At the ripe young age of thirteen, little princess Arya Viccaro murders her own parents. They say she tried to hire the Dark Brotherhood to do it, but they turned her away for a lack of funds. So she took the knife herself and stabbed each of her parents in the chest while they were sleeping. How cruel of her, to harm her own parents after they had raised and loved her, flaws and all. They had been there her whole life, and look how she treated them. That harlot deserves to spend her whole life rotting in a cell. Isn't that right, _Princess_?" A cold shiver had progressed through my body from the moment he began speaking, and now it was visible. He could tell I was scared, and he relished in that fact.

"I-it's not true. I didn't kill my parents. They had many enemies. I'm sure it was one of them..." My voice came out as feeble and small. The Dunmer returned to his seat, a victorious smirk on his face. He probably thought he could use fear to manipulate me. He knew of my sins and of my attitude toward them. He would wait until the opportune moment to strike the final blow and break my faith. He had convinced himself that he was across the hall from a scared fledgling killer, and he was right.

The sound of metal boots coming down the stairs echoed to my ears a while later. The Dunmer's acid voice called out again, resuming his taunts. "You hear that? The guards are coming... for you!" With a chuckle he faded back into the darkness of his cell, and the only time I heard his voice again was in my nightmares.

There was some dialogue going on between the party heading straight for my cell, but I ignored it. My mind was trapped on the day I had been condemned to give up on my dream, until I heard a harsh woman's voice speaking directly to me.

"Stand back, child. We won't hesitate to kill you if you get in our way." The gleam of her sword as she drew it from the sheath was enough proof she wasn't bluffing. I scrambled back on all fours, stopping only when my back hit the wall. I must have looked pathetic. One of the men approached me and told me to stay put, and I took this chance to survey their group. There were three guards dressed in heavy armor, one woman and two men, and another man in rich-looking robes. Furs lined the collar of his cloak, and a glowing red amulet hung on his chest. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he was the emperor. He caught me staring, and I quickly looked away, but he called out to me.

"You... I've seen you..." I was struck by a cold fear. I had heard his voice before. It was gentle and calm, and in any other situation it would have been soothing. However, I knew his voice from the day of reckoning. This was the Emperor, and he was one of the men who had thrown me into prison. He offered me a hand, and I took it cautiously. He helped me stand and pushed my hair away from my eyes. If anyone else had tried to touch me so casually I would have been scared, but something about this man was so calming... He felt like my father. "Let me see your face... You are the one from my dreams..." His icy blue eyes lost contact with mine, and I had the feeling he wasn't really talking to me. "Then the stars were right, and this is the day. Gods give me strength." I had so many questions I couldn't hold back anymore. If he was the Emperor, why didn't he recognize me? Perhaps he was a fake. I cleared my throat, and his eyes drew back to me.

"What's going on?" My voice sounded timid, like that of a rabbit. It was pathetic, but it was a perfect representation of who I was in that moment.

"Assassins attacked my sons, and I'm next. My Blades are leading me out of the city along a secret escape route. By chance, the entrance to that escape route leads through your cell." He spoke so calmly of what should have been a nerve-wracking situation. He just said his sons had been killed, yet here he was talking to a girl who had killed her parents in a prison cell as though he was describing what he had for lunch.

"There's no way this is happening. I just so happen to go to jail, and you, Emperor Uriel Septim, just so happen to pass through my cell..." My disbelief was clear on my face, but the Emperor waved it away easily.

"Perhaps the Gods have placed you here so that we may meet. As for what you have done... it does not matter. That is not what you will be remembered for." The way he spoke... His mannerisms... I had a feeling I knew where he was leading with this, but there was no way... There was no way he'd let me go free. The Emperor was a strange man, but he had a deep insight into the workings of the Aedra and Daedra. Could he have seen my future?

"What should I do?" With a phrase like that, I really sounded like a child. Then again, that's exactly what I was.

"You will find your own path. Take care... there will be blood and death before the end." He turned away from me with that final warning, and his Blades pretended that conversation had never happened. The two men eyed me suspiciously, and the woman urged the Emperor to move on. She pressed a button on the cell wall, and a door slowly swung open. They didn't close the door behind them. In fact, one of the Blades turned to me and spoke.

"Looks like this is your lucky day. Just stay out of our way." He didn't stop for long, only long enough to make sure I heard him. I was too surprised to move. Were they really going to just let me go? It seemed impossible, yet there it was. A gaping tunnel leading to the outside world with nothing stopping me. They had closed the cell door, so the only way I could go was down, but... Would I be free? Was there a way to pursue my dream? Did I even want to anymore? I didn't know the answers to those questions, but I knew where I could find them. I went down. Down into the dark dusty tunnel where fate was the only ruler.

It didn't take long for trouble to find us. Strange men wearing conjured armor dropped down from a ledge I hadn't noticed before. The first dropped right on top of the woman Blade, digging his dagger into her back before she noticed him. The other two drew their swords immediately, but they were outnumbered three to two. I stayed close to the Emperor, but one of the armored brutes broke through the Blades and headed right for us. Before he could reach us, I threw a small fire ball his way. It didn't seem to do much damage, but it distracted him long enough for one of the Blades to run their sword through his chest. The armor disappeared, leaving only red robes with a slowly-growing bloodstain. With a glance I could see the other two assassins dead on the ground. Each Blade sheathed his sword, and the Emperor did the same.  
"Captain Renault?"

"She's dead. I'm sorry, sire, but we have to keep moving." They began to discuss their next moves, but I thought it would be rude to eavesdrop. I examined the corpses, checking to see if there was any clue as to who sent them. I knew from the red robes they each wore they weren't Dark Brotherhood. They were probably a violent Daedra cult gone wrong. And to think, I used to want to join one of these. As the party moved on, I was ready to follow, but one of the Blades turned to me.

"You stay here, prisoner. Don't try to follow us." It was short and cold, like every time one of them talked to me. He turned quickly and followed the Emperor and the other Blade out the door to another room. I waited a moment then tried to follow, but the door was locked. Glancing down at Renault's corpse, I saw her Blade katana still at her hip. The Blades were known for their finely crafted weapons and armor, so I took the chance to see a real katana up close. However, just as I drew the weapon from the woman's hip, a wall beside me began to crumble. Two rats leapt at me. One buried its fangs in my leg, and the other in my arm. I yelped out in pain, then lifted the arm the rat was on and smashed it into the wall. Its tight grasp was gone, and I used my newly-acquired sword to stab the other rat. It died quickly, and I was once again alone in a room of corpses, this time wounded. I used a bit of the healing magic I knew to close the wounds, then took a moment to rest. If every day from now on was like this, I wasn't sure I could keep up.

I heard more rustling from the hole the rats had come from and readied Captain Renault's katana. I stepped closer to the opening slowly and peeked through. A rat spotted me and bounded for me at full speed, but this time I was ready. Just as it leapt through the air, I stepped back and raised the sword. With the rat's momentum and my own, it was sliced clean through, from tongue to tail. I kind of felt like a badass. I stepped through the hole the rats had left for me, and looked to lead through a passage parallel to the one the Blades had taken.

With no hesitation, I moved forward. I was ready. I ran down those tunnels, killing goblins and rats along the way. It felt like a lifetime's worth of adventure to me, and I used every skill at my disposal to make my way down those tunnels. I picked up everything of value to me: a few stranded pieces of heavy armor, a shield, a repair hammer, and many gems I saw along the way. I didn't even really look like an adventurer, but I felt like one. This feeling, this exhilaration was what I had been missing back in the Imperial City. I found my calling, and I was never going back to my old life.

After a long while of running, fighting, and healing, I came across a hole in the wall. A short drop down, I could see a ledge much like the one the assassins used to assault the Blades, and I could hear the sounds of battle. This time, I wouldn't hide. I was going to fight alongside the Blades and protect the Emperor. I steeled myself and jumped through the hole, running toward the sound of battle. However, by the time I revealed myself to the Blades, the assassins were already dead.

"It's that girl again," one of the Blades shouted, "kill her. She might be working with the assassins!" He approached me quickly and pressed his blade against my throat, ready to pull in a second.

"Hold, Glenroy." At the Emperor's command, the man stayed his hand. "She is not one of them. She can help us. She _must_ help us." Glenroy dropped his blade completely, stepping back yet never taking his eyes off me.

"As you wish, sire." He didn't sheathe his blade. The Emperor beckoned to me.

"Come closer. I prefer not to have to shout." I did as he asked and came close. I was very conscious of each Blade's eyes on me as I walked. "They cannot understand why I trust you. They've not seen what I've seen. How can I explain...?" He trailed off for a second to think, and I knew he was about to say something profound. "Listen. You know the Nine? How They guide our fates with an invisible hand?" He looked to me for an answer, and I realized his question wasn't rhetorical.

"I know the Nine, but I'm sure they're not proud of me now." He gave me a reassuring pat on the shoulder and a smile, then continued his speech.

"I've served the Nine all my days, and I chart my course by the cycle of the heavens. The skies are marked with numberless sparks, each a fire, and every one a sign. I know these stars well, and I wonder... which sign marked your birth?" He wanted to know my Birthsign.  
"Though I loathe to say it, I was born under the Thief." I said this as straight-forward as I could, but he saw through me. He chuckled heartily (for an old man) and placed his hand on my shoulder once again.

"There is no problem with being a noble born under the Thief, my girl. No matter what anyone else has said, being born under the Thief does not make you a bad person." He paused for a moment to remember what he'd been saying, then resumed. "The signs I read show the end of my path. My death, a necessary end, will come when it will come." I was suddenly struck with worry and interrupted him.

"What about me?" I sounded really pathetic, but the warm gaze the Emperor sent me was so reassuring. He was starting to appear like a guide to me. I had been lost until now, but this man had seen my future and placed me on the path to it. I was sure of it.

"Your stars are not mine. Today, the Thief shall guide your steps on the road to destiny." I glanced away out of habit when he mentioned the Thief.

"Aren't you afraid to die?" The Blades sent glares my way as I asked. It was in their duty to protect him, and they didn't need me encouraging and suicidal self-sacrifice.

"No trophies of my triumphs precede me. But I have lived well, and my ghost shall rest easy. Men are but flesh and blood. They know their doom, but not the hour. In this I am blessed to see the hour of my death. To face my apportioned fate, then fall." It made me uncomfortable to hear him talk about his own death so calmly, but he had been calm when talking about his sons' deaths too. Maybe he just seemed calm on the outside to hide true fear. I changed the subject a bit.

"Where are we going?" Hopefully he wouldn't get incredibly philosophical about that.

"I go to my grave. A tongue shriller than all music calls me. You shall follow me yet for a while, then we must part." Of course he had to mention dying again. His Blades really wanted that conversation to end. Their glares kept me from saying anything further to the Emperor, and he turned away from me. There was silence for a moment before the Blade behind me called me.

"Hey, I'm Baurus." He didn't give me a chance to introduce myself. "You may as well make yourself useful. Carry this torch and stick close." He brushed past me without giving me the chance to say or ask anything else. I considered keeping the torch to myself to spite him, but a glance at the Emperor made me change my mind. I hadn't known him for long, but I already felt as though I couldn't disappoint him. I lit up the torch as the group filed out. Glenroy lead the way, followed by the Emperor, then me, then Baurus. It felt nice to know everyone's name.

We continued down the tunnel quickly, but assassins attacked at every turn, slowing our progress. I helped where I could, but I mostly just stood near the Emperor looking dangerous. Though, I probably just looked cute... It all changed when we reached a locked gate. It was the only way to reach the sewers from where we were, and after we investigated a side-passage, I could hear swords being drawn from behind us.

"They're behind us!" Glenroy shouted. Both he and Baurus already had their swords drawn, but I took this chance to drop the torch and draw mine as well, grabbing my shield as well. Baurus turned to me.

"Wait here with the Emperor. Guard him with your life." I gave him a quick nod, and he and Glenroy were off. There was a moment of anxious silence as the two of us listened to the sounds of battle through the door. I tried to send him a reassuring smile, as he had for me so many times today, but his gaze was stony cold. He was resolved, and ready to die. I wasn't going to let that happen. He suddenly called my name, and I turned to face him. He suddenly thrust his amulet into my hands, speaking quickly and in hushed tones.

"I can go no further. You alone must stand against the Prince of Destruction and his mortal servants. He must not have the Amulet of Kings!" His hands gripped mine harder, and my eyes were locked on his. "Take the Amulet. Give it to Jauffre. He alone knows where to find my last son." He paused for a breath.

"But I thought-" But I thought all your sons were dead.

"Like you, he is but a child. He is not ready for the challenging times ahead. Prepare yourself, and give him time to prepare. When the time is right, find him, and close shut the jaws of Oblivion." He went silent suddenly, and pushed the Amulet into my hands with a strength I didn't think a man his age could have. I stumbled back, but found my eyes meeting his again. There was a mirthful smile on his face and a dagger plunged through his heart. It took me a moment to register what had happened. In that one moment, the wall behind the Emperor had slid open, an assassin had stepped out, and he'd stabbed Emperor Uriel Septim right in front of me. The assassin began to taunt me, but he didn't get his first word out before I slung a raging fireball his way. It did far more damage than the first fireball I'd thrown that day, and in his daze from being suddenly attacked, I lunged forward, burying my blade in his stomach. He let out a short cry and died on my sword. I dropped the katana, man and all, and rushed to the Emperor's side. There was still a bit of breath in his lungs, and I tried to employ the beat of magic I knew to heal him, but it wasn't enough. He spoke no more words, but he brought his hand up to my cheek and caressed it gently. He gave me a smile and a nod, then rested his hands on his stomach and closed his eyes. He looked as though he was asleep.

Tears rolled down my cheeks, and a sob tore from my throat. Why was I crying so hard for a man I had only met a few hours ago? I didn't know him before today, yet my heart felt empty knowing he was no longer in this world. In the few hours I'd known him, Uriel Septim had become like my second father, yet he too died at the hands of assassins. Was I a beacon of bad luck? No, the Emperor saw something in me that had never been seen before. I was destined to live in this moment, live through this moment, and do something about what the Emperor had said. There was something I needed to do.

Just as I stood from my seat beside the Emperor's body, Baurus came crashing into the room in a huff of armor, sweat, and blood. He came alone. As soon as he saw the body, he rushed to the Emperor's side, but it was too late.

"No..." It was just one short word, but I could tell from its hoarse sound what Baurus was feeling. "Talos save us..." He stood. "We've failed... I've failed. The Blades are sworn to protect the Emperor, and now he and all his heirs are dead." He suddenly turned and looked at me, looking me in the eyes for the first time. "The Amulet, where's the Amulet of Kings? It wasn't on the Emperor's body." This was the first time I had seen anyone so distraught. Then again, I probably looked the same way.

"The Emperor gave it to me..." I opened the clenched fist I'd forgotten it was in the whole time, letting the gleaming gem shine in the room. Strangely, it didn't look as bright as it had when the Emperor was wearing it.

"Strange... He saw something in you. Trusted you. They say it's the Dragon Blood, that flows through the veins of every Septim. They see more than lesser men. The Amulet of Kings is a sacred symbol of the Empire. Most people think of the Red Dragon Crown, but that's just jewelry. The Amulet has power. Only a true heir of the Blood can wear it, they say. He must have given it to you for a reason. Did he say why?"

"I must take it to Jauffre." Though it was hard to remember that considering all that had happened directly afterward.

"Jauffre? He said that? Why?" It seems Baurus understood about as much of the old Emperor's nonsense as I did. Which is very little.

"There is another heir. But he also said the heir is still a child, and we need to wait for him to get older."

"Nothing I ever heard about, but Jauffre would be the one to know. He's the Grandmaster of my Order. He lives quietly as a monk at Weynon Priory, near the city of Chorrol. You should go there quickly. Take this key. It opens the last door to the sewers. I'll stay here and guard the Emperor's body until help from my Order arrives." I nodded, and he turned away. It was an awkward goodbye for awkward acquaintances, but for some reason, I was sure we'd meet again as friends. I went through the sliding door the assassin had come through and made my way through the sewers. There were a few small monsters, namely rats, goblins, and mudcrabs, but it was easy enough to make my way through. When I saw the light at the end of the tunnel, I didn't realize how badly I'd missed fresh air.

I ran up to the rusted door of the sewer and pushed with all my might. It slowly creaked open, and I was outside for the first time in what felt like my whole life. The outside had never seemed more beautiful. The stars twinkled down from their place in the night sky, and the dark, clear water was a perfect mirror.

I went down to the water to glance at my reflection. It was unnerving, seeing myself looking so different from what I expected. Back home, my skin was always clear, my long hair was always clean and smooth, and my clothes were always of the highest quality, but now was the exact opposite. Blood streaked across my face, likely from when the Emperor comforted me. There was still straw in my hair from the floor of my cell, and blood, and the large wrist irons I hadn't taken off yet had rubbed sores into my arms. I wore a tacky mix of cloth and iron armor. I had never had this much trouble recognizing myself before.

If I wanted to be a vessel for the Nine and serve the Empire, it would be bad to do so with a reputation as a parent-killer, so I was glad I was hard to recognize. I was still filthy. I stripped out of my armor and clothes and waded into the cool water of the river. Was it right next to a sewer entrance? Yes. Was anything coming out of the sewer? No. Was I worried about what looked like a fire on the other side of the river? A bit. But none of that mattered in the moment I was living in.

I didn't spend long in the river, and when I left, clean and fully refreshed, I made a decision. I was no longer Arya Viccaro, whose foolish decisions and sheltered lifestyle led to the death of her parents. I wouldn't let anyone call me "princess" again. I took my blade to the back of my neck and gathered my hair in one place. With a powerful sound, my sharpened blade cut it all in one strike. Wow, it looked bad, but it felt good. I'd have to find someone kind enough to even it out for me. I looked at my reflection one more time.

"I am not Arya Viccaro. I am Anya, and I am free." Dark blue eyes, stronger than I had ever seen, victoriously shone back at me from the water. On this night, the night of the Emperor's murder, a hero was born.

* * *

 **A/N: Hey guys! So it's been forever since I've posted. BUT I really wanted to get this idea out there. In case you didn't notice, this is only the prologue of an entire series, so when it says completed it just means this part. The prologue is called UnFree, the series is called Adventures of Anya. There will be a pretty sizeable time skip between each season except between the prologue and season one. The actual main questline will probably start in about five years.**

 **PLEASE let me know what you think in a review. Do you like Anya? Do you hate her? Who do you think she'll end up with (cause she will end up with someone)? Did you notice any changes with what you experienced in the game?**

 **ALSO If you've never really played any Elder Scrolls stuff or don't know much about the lore, I'll explain everything in future chapters. This was just sort of to get the ball rolling and will be pretty confusing to people who haven't played before.**

 **Fear not, read on!**


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